Learning objectives:

Evaluate the current evidence supporting advanced wound care technologies, including peel-and-place dressings, oxidized regenerated cellulose (ORC) with silver used in conjunction with negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), and NPWT with instillation.

Assess the role of compression therapy, skin protectants, and superabsorbent dressings in optimizing edema control, periwound skin integrity, exudate management, and healing outcomes across a variety of wound types.

Analyze case-based scenarios demonstrating the evidence-based selection and integration of advanced wound care therapies—including peel-and-place dressings, ORC with silver under NPWT, NPWT with instillation, compression therapy, skin protectants, and superabsorbent dressings—for patients with complex wounds across the continuum of care.

Implement best practices for developing comprehensive treatment plans that incorporate advanced wound care technologies, with consideration of wound characteristics, patient-specific factors, and transitions across healthcare settings to optimize clinical outcomes.

Skin failure and pressure injury are often difficult to distinguish in critically ill and end-of-life patients, creating significant challenges for clinical management, quality reporting, reimbursement, and medicolegal risk. This multidisciplinary session brings together the perspectives of a physician, nurse, and researcher to review the evolving evidence on skin failure, discuss key clinical and diagnostic differences from pressure injury, and examine practical approaches to assessment, prevention, documentation, and interdisciplinary decision-making. Through evidence-based discussion and real-world cases, attendees will gain practical strategies to improve diagnostic accuracy, enhance patient-centered care, and confidently navigate this complex and often controversial aspect of wound care.

Heel ulcers are among the most challenging wounds to assess, particularly in patients with diabetes, peripheral neuropathy, vascular disease, and limited mobility. Using real-world cases and current evidence, this session will examine the clinical features that distinguish diabetic foot ulcers from heel pressure injuries, highlighting how etiology drives assessment, documentation, and treatment decisions. Participants will strengthen their diagnostic confidence through practical strategies for evaluating heel wounds and applying appropriate management approaches.

Pressure injury prevention continues to evolve as new evidence, quality initiatives, and performance measures reshape clinical practice across healthcare settings. This session will examine current best practices in pressure injury prevention, including risk assessment, prevention strategies, implementation of emerging quality measures, and opportunities to improve patient outcomes through interdisciplinary care. Using practical examples and evidence-based recommendations, participants will gain actionable strategies to strengthen prevention programs, support regulatory compliance, and translate the latest evidence into everyday clinical practice.

This session will examine evidence-based functional nutrition strategies alongside the pharmacologic factors that affect wound healing, including medication-induced nutrient depletion, drug-nutrient interactions, diabetes therapies, corticosteroids, anticoagulants, and emerging obesity treatments. Attendees will leave with practical approaches to identify nutritional and medication-related barriers to healing, optimize patient care, and incorporate collaborative interventions that support both pressure injury prevention and improved wound outcomes.

Pressure injuries and incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) often present with similar clinical features, making accurate assessment essential for appropriate treatment, documentation, and quality reporting. This session will challenge participants to differentiate pressure injury from IAD by applying evidence-based assessment techniques, evaluating common diagnostic pitfalls, and interpreting real-world clinical presentations. Participants will leave with practical strategies to improve diagnostic accuracy, strengthen documentation, and support timely, appropriate interventions across diverse patient care settings.

This presentation explores how limb preservation can serve as a global health metric, examining the relationship between wound care infrastructure, multidisciplinary care, health policy, and amputation rates across diverse healthcare settings. Attendees will gain a broader perspective on how improving wound prevention, timely intervention, and coordinated limb preservation strategies can reduce disparities, improve population health, and provide meaningful benchmarks for evaluating health system performance worldwide.

Advances in artificial intelligence and predictive analytics are changing how clinicians identify patients at risk for pressure injuries, enabling earlier intervention and more targeted prevention strategies. This session will examine how machine learning can complement traditional risk assessment tools, improve clinical decision-making, and support efficient allocation of prevention resources without replacing clinical judgment. Through real-world examples and emerging evidence, participants will explore practical applications of AI in pressure injury prevention, implementation considerations, and the opportunities and challenges of integrating predictive technologies into everyday practice

This session explores the use of the Monk Skin Tone Scale to improve early recognition of pressure-related tissue changes across all skin tones. Faculty will share practical strategies for incorporating standardized skin tone assessment, palpation, and non–color-based indicators into routine pressure injury assessment. Attendees will gain actionable approaches to enhance assessment consistency, support earlier intervention, and improve patient outcomes.

Osteomyelitis remains one of the most challenging complications of advanced pressure injuries, often requiring careful clinical evaluation to distinguish true bone infection from colonization or soft tissue involvement. Faculty will examine diagnostic approaches, including clinical assessment, imaging, microbiology, and bone biopsy, while exploring the role of antimicrobial therapy, surgical intervention, and multidisciplinary care. Participants will gain practical strategies to improve diagnostic accuracy, support antimicrobial stewardship, and develop comprehensive management plans for patients with pressure injury-associated osteomyelitis.

Quality reporting for pressure injuries is evolving, bringing new expectations for documentation, electronic reporting, and accountability. This session will examine upcoming eCQM changes, discuss their impact on clinical practice and organizational performance, and provide actionable strategies to help clinicians prepare for the next generation of pressure injury quality measurement.

F-tags continue to shape wound care practices in post-acute settings, influencing documentation, quality outcomes, survey readiness, and interdisciplinary care planning. Faculty will examine the F-tags most relevant to wound prevention and management, highlighting common survey deficiencies, documentation strategies, and opportunities to strengthen regulatory compliance while improving patient care. Participants will leave with actionable approaches to navigate evolving regulatory expectations, reduce risk, and build sustainable processes that support high-quality wound care across post-acute practice settings.

This session will review the evidence, appropriate patient selection, timing of therapy, and practical considerations for integrating HBO into multidisciplinary wound care. Attendees will gain clinical insights into when HBO therapy may improve outcomes for patients with challenging pressure injuries and compromised flap reconstructions.

Selecting the most appropriate dressing requires more than matching a product to a wound—it demands careful assessment of tissue characteristics, exudate, periwound skin, and healing goals. Through interactive case studies faculty will demonstrate how dressing selection evolves as wounds change while addressing common clinical challenges, including pressure injuries, and decision-making pitfalls. Participants will gain practical, evidence-based strategies to optimize dressing selection, protect periwound skin, and support healing across diverse patient care settings.

This session will explore how mobility, repositioning techniques, and pressure mapping technologies can guide patient-specific interventions to reduce pressure-related tissue damage and support healing. Participants will gain evidence-based strategies for integrating movement, support surfaces, and pressure mapping into comprehensive pressure injury management across a variety of care settings.

Using interactive case examples and current evidence, faculty will examine strategies for recognizing device-related and mucosal pressure injuries, clarify staging and documentation considerations, and discuss practical approaches to prevention across diverse care settings. Attendees will leave with clinically applicable techniques to improve early identification, reduce device-related complications, and strengthen interdisciplinary pressure injury prevention efforts.

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has become an invaluable adjunct in the management of complex urological wounds, offering benefits that extend beyond traditional wound healing. Patients undergoing treatment for conditions such as Fournier's gangrene, radical pelvic surgery, urinary fistulas, perineal wounds, traumatic injuries, and complex reconstructive procedures often present with challenging wounds complicated by contamination, tissue loss, edema, and high exudate levels. This session will explore the unique considerations for applying NPWT in the urological patient, including wound assessment, protecting urinary diversions and exposed structures, managing moisture and contamination, dressing selection, pressure settings, and strategies to facilitate definitive closure. Through evidence-based recommendations, practical techniques, and clinical case studies, participants will gain confidence in incorporating NPWT safely and effectively into multidisciplinary urological wound management to improve healing, reduce complications, and optimize patient outcomes.